Ellison Runs Over Georgia Southern En Route to Second Win of Season

By David Sugarman (@David_Sugarman2)

It was largely believed that whatever IU did poorly this week they would be heavily criticized for and the positives would be taken with a grain of salt. We can happily say that it’s the latter. IU took down Georgia Southern 52-17 on Saturday and did it with relative ease. After going three and out on their first drive with three straight pass plays, IU came back the next drive with balance. 10 plays, six running and four passing, en route to a 73 yard drive ending in a Morgan Ellison touchdown from two yards out and the Hoosiers never looked back from there.

A J-Shun Harris 70 yard punt return for a touchdown later in the first frame made it 14-0. Harris put himself in the company of Mitchell Paige and more with two punt returns for touchdowns in a season, doing it for the second game in a row as well.

Even one of the rare miscues of the day went IU’s way. A Morgan Ellison fumble at the 1 was recovered in the end zone by Simmie Cobbs to put IU up 21-0. It was the lone blooper for the true freshman who finished the day with 186 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Granted IU was up most of the game and became run heavy in the second half, but IU ended the game with 47 rushes to just 22 pass plays. An encouraging sign after the lack of commitment to the run in week one.

Later in the half IU got something that had eluded them completely through the first two games, a Tom Allen takeaway. Tyler Green was able to force a fumble and Chris Covington recovered. IU ended up forcing three fumbles on the day and got points each time. Andre Brown put the icing on the cake with a strip and return late in the game to make it 52-17 and give the Hoosiers 21 points on three Georgia Southern turnovers.

Despite forcing three turnovers, the Hoosier defense took it’s foot off the gas late and did surrender nearly 400 yards. A 63 yard touchdown pass in the third quarter was the worst of it, despite the game being over at that point.

IU would put up 31 points before Georgia Southern could even get on the board, which they did with a 23 yard touchdown pass from Shai Werts to Ellis Richardson late in the first half.

Up 31-7 at halftime IU ended up cruising to an easy victory and while there’s caution in the excitement, there’s reason to be excited about Morgan Ellison. The true freshman ran for over 100 yards in the first half alone and ended with nearly 200. Ellison can’t be expected to break the century mark each week, but if IU can lean on him as a lead back they’ll be much more equipped for Big Ten play than they showed in the first couple games.

At the quarterback position IU went back and forth most the game between Richard Lagow and Peyton Ramsey and both were fine without being anything spectacular. Lagow went 8-13 for 130 yards with one touchdown while Ramsey finished 3-8 with 55 yards. Ramsey’s mobility wasn’t much of a factor today, with just 22 yards on seven carries. Ramsey didn’t fuel the fire of people wanting him to start and while he didn’t give reason to be benched, Lagow probably didn’t earn back the full trust of Hoosier fans. The highlight between the two QB’s was a 71 yard hook up for a score in the first minute of the second half from Lagow to Ian Thomas, but with the game already out of reach, it won’t do much for Lagow’s stock. Ramsey’s biggest highlight was a 42 yard touchdown pass to Devonte Williams where he found Williams in open space and he had an easy spring to the endzone.

IU fans will take it with a grain of salt, but by god they’ll take it. IU gives Tom Allen his first two game win streak as a head coach before a test of monumental proportions next week when they head to Happy Valley to take on Penn State. IU showed improvement in several areas today, but a matchup against a top five team like the Nittany Lions will show if it was real improvement or all smoke and mirrors.